In a nutshell: Playing as shape-shifter Kameo, your special skill is that once you’ve vanquished an enemy you can assume their form and use their special attacks at any time. This offers an ever-increasing arsenal of wittily designed beasts with which to complete your quest, as well as expanding varieties of combo to take on the tougher bosses. The lowdown: Expansive action adventure with a pleasantly Zelda-esque feel about it, which features the usual set of neat little touches from developer Rare, as well as their trademark easy-to-use control interface. Despite the gradually upgradeable complexities of your various shapes’ attack and defence mechanisms this promises to be a joy to control throughout. Most exciting moment: Switching forms in the heat of battle makes for some hilarious and very effective combinations of various creatures’ skills. They also look fabulous in a comedy-monster sort of way. Since you ask: Originally slated to appear on the venerable Nintendo 64, Kameo’s development allegedly shifted first to Game Cube, then to Xbox and is finally seeing the light of day on Xbox 360. The path to gaming love never did run smooth. The bottom line: Amongst Xbox 360’s raft of shooting and driving launch titles, this is a breath of sweet, fresh air. Nick Gillett Newcastle city centre, Saturday, 11.20pm. A tree, yesterday. Lazer-wielding creature from hell not impressed by skipping Her mum was right, she would catch her death.

Features:- Transform in real-time into a dazzling array of incredible monsters, each with its own fantastical strengths and fighting styles- Employ 10 elemental monsters from the five Elements of Power - Plant, Water, Rock, Ice, and Fire- Use roughly 30 unique attack and exploration abilities -- the innovative and sophisticated combat scoring system will track players' effectiveness to outmaneuver, fight, and destroy the enemy- Use monsters to tunnel underground, climb ice walls, jump ramps, blow up obstacles, -- even for unlocking new worlds, solving environment puzzles, and avoiding obstructions, traps, and enemies- Explore a vast and magical world filled with lush environments, wondrous creatures, clever puzzles, and big challenges